LINK to game videos
INTRODUCTION
ECHO tells the story about a famous painter who had just died came to a place called Reincarnation Office. He was told that he had to go back to the time that caused his three greatest regrets in life, and only when he let go of all the regrets could he reincarnate. The player will take on the role of the painter, learning about the story of his past and helping him make better choices in these situations. The complete game process takes about 40 minutes.
Role: Gameplay Programmer, Level Designer, Narrative Designer
Tags: Puzzle, Story Rich, Relaxing
Platform: Windows with keyboard and mouse
Tools: Unity
CONTRIBUTION
Gameplay Programmer
- Designed and implemented the basic game interaction system, including the NPC interaction system, the
backpack system and the dialog system
- Programmed to implement the functions for two out of total three chapters for the whole game
Level Designer
- Designed the
Narrative Designer
- Designed the world background and all characters
- Completed all text writing in Chinese, which is more than 8,000 words
DESIGN INSPIRATION
The death of my aunt inspired me to design this game relevant to the afterlife. Being filled with sadness, I felt regretful about those things we didn't get a chance to do together.
In traditional Chinese stories, there is a place called Naihe Bridge where the dead must drink Mengpo soup to forget their previous lives before being reincarnated. Based on this idea, I designed a place called "Reincarnation Office". Instead of being imbued with the ominous atmosphere of death, this place is more like a busy office hall. All the souls of the dead must fill in a form as a way of security check, and they can only leave after confirming that they no longer have regrets about their previous lives. I designed the employees of the Office as cute ghosts who speak in a serious tone and used this contrast to weaken the fear of death in the dialogue. The dead no longer forgets their regrets by drinking Mengpo soup; instead, they go back to the past and make different choices in the Reincarnation Office to make up for their regrets. Althought here would be no actural changes to the past life, the dead can feel a sense of relief by reliving that moment and letting their regrets go.
In the game, players will play as the famous painter who has just passed away. He came to the Reincarnation Office with deep regrets and returned to the past three moments that made him most regretful. He was given a chance to make a new choice in these moments. After letting go of all regrets, he would be ready to leave the Office and embrace his next life. I also design an ending in which the painter can still leave the Office even if nothing has changed, because if one doesn t dwell on it too much, some regrets can become precious memories. Through this game, I hope players can let go of their sadness for the dead, and at the same time, cherish the time spent with the living and try their best to leave fewer regrets in life.
NARRATIVE DESIGN & LEVEL DESIGN
The main body of the game is divided into three stages based on the three things the painter regretted, and some conversations with the ghost in the Office are added between these stages. At the beginning of each stage, a number of items are added. They can be viewed in detail and characters that can be talked with, which help players to better understand the character's situation by interacting with the environment.
Story One - Money and Fame
The painter was once forced to create a painting for a rich man under tremendous financial pressure. This brought him money and fame, but he was always regretted that he had to paint not to his own intention. In the Office, the painter would have a chance to secretly take this painting from the rich man's collection and leave the city to start a new life. Considering the painter's situation, players must solve puzzles about where the painting is located and how to leave the collection hall while avoiding patrollers.
Story Two - Friendship
The painter missed the chance to bid farewell to his best friend before his friend headed to the battlefield. "Finding" is the theme of this stage. Since his friend is a violinist, I make the melodious violin sound run through all the scenes. At the end of the stage, by listening to the sound and identifying the position, players need to find him in the crowd before he boards the train and leaves.
Story Three - Family and Love
The painter ran away from home at a young age when his parents opposed him to learn painting. After spending a long time reconciling with his parents, he returned home and discovered they had passed away years ago. I designed many mechanism puzzles in the house. Even opening a door requires a lot of efforts, which can reflect his unfamiliarity with his family. At the end of the stage, the painter read a diary written by his mother and felt the passage of time and their missing and love for him.